Information regarding many topics, for example health care, is proliferating. Access to information when making decisions, carrying out activities, etc. is valuable, but excessive, irrelevant, or inadequately-targeted information can itself be problematic, since remembering and associating the information appropriately to the current situation becomes increasingly difficult as the amount of available information increases. This is particularly true when individuals must consider information in a complex field, without having comprehensive training in that field. An example of this would be medical patients, who is in a position to control their own health-related circumstances, but who also typically lack extensive medical training.
Spoken instructions, e.g. from a doctor during a health care visit, can provide some level of guidance. Likewise, printed instructions such as those accompanying a prescription for medication also can provide guidance. However, such instructions are limited in scope, for example being essentially static. That is, a written prescription or visit can inform a patient of the need to take a medication at a particular time or under a particular circumstance, but does not provide a reminder at that time or under that circumstance. Even an automated reminder system, such as a timed alarm, provides only limited information, and is often readily ignored, overlooked, etc. Moreover, alarms typically do not in themselves either confirm compliance (i.e. did the patient take his or her medication), nor collect data, nor offer an opportunity for feedback from the patient. While such arrangements might be implemented by live persons, e.g. real-time personal reminders from physicians or other trained persons, such approaches are for many cases logistically impractical.